DCP-o-matic Tutorial

[@dfroelicher]

A few things to add. When ripping off a Blu-ray or honestly any source, even a mastered one. Make sure that your audio level LUFS is between -30 and -20. This does NOT change the mix of the film and conforms it to the same levels as packages received from Technicolor and Deluxe. The projectionist will thank you since he doesn't have to set different levels for your package from the others he might be placing. If you have a stereo mix you want to add the LR channels to C channel and then adjust the whole thing either up or down to the proper loudness. This will keep the mix centered if there is no difference between L and R but allow any panning to take place while ensuring everyone can hear it. Also make sure you match the frame rate to the source file or it will play faster or slower than intended, the program will pick the best match. Your maximum bit rate is limited to what the server at the playhouse can perform. Your best bet with all of this is to call the theater and ask for the info they send to the distribution company so that you can get the proper aspect ratio, audio channel count, and find out how long it will take them to ingest the package so you will have an idea of how much lead time is needed for everything. On average with a 6 core hyperthreaded machine set to 2k scope a 2hr Blu-ray should take about 6hrs. Anymore than that and you should look at using an internal drive and then transferring that to external later. Overall you should be looking at a 8hr day to complete the project from opening the program to unplugging the drive and taking it to the playhouse.

[@dillonjamescole]

Thanks for all of this information, Devin. Everyone, this guy has important things to say on this topic and to my knowledge he's accurate.

[@caveira13]

6:38 I actually check all audio files. Many times the gain will be a bit high for DCP reproduction and will distort a bit on the speaker independent of the volume I have on the dolby processor. so I need to bring it down 3 or 4db for it to be good. this happens when the final mix is around -0db. DCP-O-Matic actually will tell you if it´s to high by showing the gain value in red. As soon has you bring it down it will change to black. Great video, I´m sending it to film festivals so they can show this to directors! :) Cheers

[@IDSTARTAREVOLUTION2]

Anybody else come here EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. they need to make a DCP? Lol

[@thavari]

Same! Thanks @Dillon Cole

[@miriambennett]

haha yes

[@TheJPinder]

EVERY FREAKING TIME! lol

[@patrickhanser7235]

Hands down the best dcp video out there thank u

[@srfurley]

😮

[@forsentforedelweiss]

Hi thanks for the video. My source material is in 3840x2160, 16:9 and i have the skinny black bars on the left and right side. Cropping only distorts the image within the bars but customized scaling and just cranking it up gets rid of the black bars. I'm still scared that i am messing with the image and proportions. Should i just have the black bars or do you think it's safe to scale it free handedly?

[@bobsmith2442]

Thank you for the best how to video ever made!

[@MegaDavids007]

WOW! This is pure gold! Thank you for the video. How does one deal with subtitles? Not sure if I bake them in the film or not? I mean titles are like subtitles so why is there talk that subtitles are dealt with differently! Help please.

[@WillSchwartzz]

Hi! Firstly, thank you for this coherent tutorial. I had a question on checking playback quality. Does the playback screen within the application serve as a proper QC of the content or should I still check the quality of the final file through a digital cinema server? I've heard simpleDCP is a solid option, but I'm not sure how to be certain that the file has turned out okay. Cheers!

[@dillonjamescole]

Great question. I wouldn't qualify it as "proper" QC only because (at least on my computers) the DCP won't playback in real time for more than ~10 seconds and the image quality doesn't match what I see in the cinema. However, it is a good way to quickly see the content if you need to check something instead of having to wait for it to ingest, etc.

[@jeffgraham9241]

Hey Dylan - great vid, thanks! My feature is in 4K UHD (about 10% smaller than full 4k). Would you recommend I scale up to exhibit in full 4k, or scale down to exhibit in 2k?

[@dillonjamescole]

2k.

[@BraveTallGoddess]

Thanks for this great instructional video, Dillon. I have a question about frame rate. Our time line was 23.98 fps since the filming was done on a dvx100 at the time. We exported in Apple Pro Res HQ with the current fps. If we set dcpomatic to 24 fps will it put the film out of synch or will it adjust it? Thank you

[@dillonjamescole]

Hey, thank you! Both your audio and visual will playback at 100.1% speed (which, I promise you will not notice) and there with be no issues with synchronization.

[@alexandraschwartz415]

Hiya! I have an mp4 that is 1920 x 1080. What kind of DCP conversion (if any) do I need to do in order to play it on a movie theater screen using HDMI? I am not the most tech-savvy so really appreciate your help here!!!

[@dillonjamescole]

you don't need to do any DCP conversion. just play the file from your computer as normal. the projector essentially just becomes an external monitor.

[@alexandracassel5971]

Appreciate your quick response and wisdom!

[@Drrezzin]

This is great for making a DCP from a Blu-ray rip, but what about exporting from an NLE? What format would that file start out at? Mp4? AVI? What?

[@dillonjamescole]

I would suggest ProRes 422 as your export codec. Or DNxHD if you don't want to/can't use ProRes.

[@hassanbogoreh8408]

Great Helpful Tutorial, doing my 1st first DCP and I have an question needed to convert an MOV video file to DCP. Kindly any guidance is appreciated, #Thanks.

[@dillonjamescole]

Sure, what is your question?

[@hassanbogoreh8408]

@@dillonjamescole , Thanks for your quick input and tutorial. Needed to convert an MOV file to DCP> How I can do this!

[@dillonjamescole]

@@hassanbogoreh8408 follow the instructions in the video. All input codecs will function the same.

[@hassanbogoreh8408]

@@dillonjamescole Hi Dear. Could you please give me the direct link of this proposed dcp o matic as the one got through the system doesnt look particularly the same

[@dillonjamescole]

@@hassanbogoreh8408 they're just on a newer version now, which I would recommend using. It's the same thing with the same tools - don't be afraid!

[@martinfriedrichcom]

Thanks for that Dillon! What would you suggest for audio, I got a stereo track in my movie I want to make a dcp of, would you just put the two channels in to l+r of the 5.1 or would you use the mid-side decoder or up-mixer?

[@dillonjamescole]

Hey, Martin. I would keep your two tracks in the left and right channels. DCP-o-matic should detect that and place the tracks/name the DCP accordingly. Make sure that your peak isn't any louder than -3 dB, too.

[@SLfilmBerlin]

-6db actually and stereo in the cinema should always be wrapped as surround, meaning fill all other channels with silence to make sure the audio server detects it the right way. stereo in cinemas is sub-optimal though due to the L/R speakers being the weakest performers.

[@EtheriumSky]

Hey one more question. If my mp4 has a stereo mix - should I set audio in DCP-O-matic as stereo (despite the warning) or keep it at 5.1? Not sure which one would yield better results in a screening room?

[@dillonjamescole]

You should keep it as 5.1. That will pad the other channels so that there's no confusion in the cinema's processor where your stereo channels will be mapped. This will not magically convert your stereo mix to 5.1.

[@EtheriumSky]

@@dillonjamescole thanks a ton! :)

[@cenaklito]

Hi Dillon, thank you for the tutorial, very useful. I know someone has already asked you this, but I am still not very sure about it. My master has 2 stereo audio channels, should I select the 2 stereo channels option or rather the 6 channels 5.1 one? Also, any advice when adding subtitles to the DCP in DCP o matic? Thanks a lot

[@dillonjamescole]

Select the 2 stereo channels. Anything you're specifically needing to learn about subtitles?

[@cenaklito]

@@dillonjamescole Hi Dillon, actually I am more worried about messing with selecting Scale To and Container size, and getting it wrong. Since my movie isn't scope as yours in your video, I am having a big trouble figuring out the right settings. We have a 4096 x 2160 movie, but the actual image is 4096 x 1743, since it was shot in 2:35:1 (we cropped top and bottom of the full image in the sequence). What options should I select under the Scale To and the Container? If I select Scale To 1.90 (Full frame) and Full Frame for the Container, as suggested by Dcp o matic, my movie doesn't look distorted but I don't get a "full frame" window as in your video. Should I crop my movie too? Sorry for the long message and thank you very much

[@dillonjamescole]

@@cenaklito in a scope (2.39:1) container, you're 2.35:1 movie will have small pillarboxes (black bars on the left and right sides of the frame). You could crop more and scale it to fill the whole frame, if you wanted to. But there's nothing wrong with having a 2.35:1 image inside a 2.39:1 container. In the future, I would advocate for using 2.39:1 on a scope project instead of 2.35:1, unless it's a period peice that 2.35:1 is appropriate for. Just my opinion.

[@cenaklito]

@@dillonjamescole thanks, mate, if you ever come to Spain I´ll buy you a beer

[@commercialand]

what is the final file extension?.....is it XMF?....the actual file they will play at theaters I mean.

[@PatrickDSimpson]

Yes, it's two separate MXF files - one for video and one for audio.

[@Karansinghtetwal]

one question is j2k and dcp are same?

[@sushinskiy]

How can I know that 5.1 file converted to DCP correctly? How to make playlist that several DCPs for the screening / filmfest will play in correct order?

[@dillonjamescole]

Testing in a theater is really the best way to know it converted correctly with all of your channels mapped properly. But 9 times out of 10, the program maps everything correctly. And you just need to communicate with the staff at the screening venue to play the files in the order that you want.

[@sushinskiy]

@@dillonjamescole Thanks for the answer! I just realised I can put film in Davinci Resolve and see all audio tracks - there are only two - no need to go to the cinema for checking that (at this stage, maybe later - yes). I need to ask submitters for the 5.1 version because it should be 5.1

[@sebastianfilmsunlimited]

For some reason, when I do these adjustments (top 140, bottom 138) I still have black bars on top and bottom (though less of), can I just continue to raise the top number and bottom number until the black bars disappear? At top 282 and bottom 279, they disappear like the example in this tutorial. I just want to make sure that won't affect anything.

[@dillonjamescole]

Yeah out sounds like you should be fine!

[@FastEddieFelson61]

Thanks for the video, Dillion. I'm creating a DCP for the UK and when I choose 25 frames it says I should change your DCP standard to SMPTE. How do I do this? Thanks!

[@dillonjamescole]

There's a drop-down box where you can change between IOP and SMPTE. It's on the DCP page side.

[@sebastianfilmsunlimited]

We shot in 1080p, but the DCP-o-Matic is only giving me 2K and 4K options for resolution under DCP: Video, right under Container: DCI Scope. Will that matter?

[@dillonjamescole]

Nope! 1080 (or "HD") and 2K are just two different standardized sizes. But they're very close to each other. So don't worry about it.

[@sebastianfilmsunlimited]

@@dillonjamescole Great! Thank you so much for the quick reply. And thank you for this amazing and easy tutorial video!

[@thisisdylangreenberg]

Does anyone know how to pull up “filters”? I want to be able to deinterlace my video. When I pull up my file I don’t see the option for filters. Thank you!

[@jeffgraham9241]

One more question - our PRO RES render is 23.976 (with audio synced). Do we run the risk of desyncing or distortion by rendering out 24fps DCP?

[@dillonjamescole]

Don't even worry about it. It'll technically make it 100.1% the speed, but I promise you will not notice.

[@AstridOvallesRecluse]

Hey thanks for the tutorial, very helpful. Just wondering if I added the output blanking myself in color, do I still need to crop the top and bottom? Technically, the film isn't 2.39 as the black bars were added on top of the movie. Should I still crop them out? so you can only see the widescreen picture in the highlighted content?

[@dillonjamescole]

Hmm I'm sorry, but I'm struggling to understand what you mean.

[@AstridOvallesRecluse]

@@dillonjamescole I actually figured it out, sorry, I'm new at this. Thanks again!

[@dillonjamescole]

@@AstridOvallesRecluse no worries. I get how this is kind of overwhelming at first. Glad I could help! I hope you have a dope screening 🤙

[@AstridOvallesRecluse]

@@dillonjamescole thank you!! Honestly awesome tutorial. I was about to drop out of the festival when i saw the dcp o matic screen, almost just threw my computer out etc

[@fareedaayishamuhammed4773]

@@AstridOvallesRecluse Hello Astrid, can you kindly tell how you solved this issue. I am facing the same problem!

[@PatrickDSimpson]

If I'm creating a 2K DCP is there an advantage to using this over Adobe Premiere's built-in Wraptor DCP export?

[@dillonjamescole]

Yeah. Last I checked, in Premiere you can’t categorize or name the CPL correctly. I also just saw the requirements from a fairly big film festival and they flat out don’t accept DCPs made with Wraptor. I can think of any good reasons to use Wraptor and I can’t think of any good reasons to not use DCP-o-matic.

[@PatrickDSimpson]

@@dillonjamescole I also saw a festival make mention of not accepting DCPs made with Wraptor. In my case it would be for a one-off DCP, we have a professionally created DCP but need to create a foreign language subtitled version for literally just one festival. Wraptor seems like an easier, quicker solution. That said, maybe I'll take another look at DCP-o-matic.

[@thekaniack]

This was awesome. Thank you.

[@balasooryans.i135]

Can you please explain how to make 5.1 or 7.1 audio to DCP

[@EdgarWilkening]

Good tutorial! Thanks, helped a lot.

[@ediewyse]

Great tutorial!!

[@EtheriumSky]

This is the first time I'm dealing with DCP and am a little confused... I have a film in 16:9. It will need to be cropped for DCP, correct? I can't quite get if DCP-O-Matic will stretch or crop my film to fit its new aspect ratio? Is there any preferred way to do this?

[@dillonjamescole]

Your 16x9 image will simply be pillarboxed in a 1.85:1 (which is called "flat") container. So, there will be 39 pixel columns on either side of the image. This will result in zero crop of your image!

[@EtheriumSky]

@@dillonjamescole Actually... under video, should I then set my scale to 1.78 (it shows pillarboxes in preview) or 1.85 (no pillarboxes but preview looks a little stretched). I guess this is what's most confusing me here. Thanks a lot, buddy! Appreciate your help!

[@dillonjamescole]

@@EtheriumSky I suppose that depends what you want your final aspect ratio to be. I wouldn't recommend distorting your image in any way, so if you want to use the whole flat container you could do a cropped export from your NLE (meaning, if you have a 1920x1080 image, make a 1920x1038 export). There's not really answer to your question other than don't distort your image. Hopefully that makes sense!

[@uzeoo]

@@dillonjamescole what can I use to convert the dcp to mp4 ?

[@dillonjamescole]

@@uzeoo depends. There's a way to do it with ffmpeg, but I'm not enough of a dweeb to know how to use it. When I've done it in the past, I've exported the DCP from my media server, then put the video and audio files in a timeline in Premiere and exported.

[@tarunwadhwa5026]

Hi, so once I have a folder which has these MXF files and XML etc, should I simply paste these files in an External Hard Disk or PEN Drive in open (my folder size is about 75GB, so I will most likely get a USB3.1 128GB stick). Or is there another step after I have the files to make them bootable/playable. What format should my drive be formatted, NTFS or EXFAT. I am on windows 10.

[@dillonjamescole]

Yeah, you should copy the folder with its contents. It depends on what kind of media server for how you should format your drive. Check with the venue you're screening with. Likely NTFS will work though.

[@themarcs1497]

Thank you!! Very useful.

[@cesarflorescorrea1396]

Hi Dillon, How do I know if my dcp works fine before deliver it to the film festival? thank you so much!

[@cesarflorescorrea1396]

I mena, some free software on mac to check this out?

[@dillonjamescole]

If it said "OK - ran for XX:XX" (something like that), then you should be good to go!

[@cesarflorescorrea1396]

@@dillonjamescole Thank you, Dillon, I have a few more questions, some email to keep up the conversation? of course, if you want to

[@dillonjamescole]

@@cesarflorescorrea1396 No email, but I'm happy to help here in the comments! Asking publicly may help other folks in the future, too!

[@DNA2000-8bit]

I'm a bit confused around the 3 minute mark, and I think it's because you're saying something different than what we see on screen. At the 3:04 mark you say "because this is a 1920 by 1080 file..." But then at the 3:14 you say "...because this film is in the scope aspect ratio." Since 1920 x 1080 isn't scope, it's unclear what you're referencing. Is your 1920 x 1080 mxf file padded with black and the visible image within those black boarders/pillars viewable as scope aspect ratio? Because I just used a 1920x1080 sample file, followed your steps and it ain't working.

[@dillonjamescole]

The image we actually want from this file is a scope-shaped image. But that scope-shaped image is housed in a 16x9 container. So I mean that the film itself is scope but the file is 16x9. So, for this particular film, we need to delete the black letter boxing in order to properly fill a scope container. Does that make sense?

[@DNA2000-8bit]

@@dillonjamescole It makes sense for the limited case scenario of a scope-shot video housed in a 16x9 container, but that seems like a real outlier type of scenario for what I thought was going to be a general DCP-O-Matic tutorial. But I think I understand now at least what you were attempting to describe. Cheers.

[@dillonjamescole]

@@DNA2000-8bit yeah, I wanted to make the most complicated of what is typically seen. Same logic applies to any other aspect ratio in any container.

[@tirsomorales750]

Is there a way to make a 3D DCP instead of a 2D DCP?

[@anthonyalvarez1451]

Hello- does the file need to be mkv in order to use this program?

[@dillonjamescole]

No it can be almost any codec.

[@mariamillan3898]

Whats the best format for the source file? Pro res? or another?

[@dillonjamescole]

Yeah, I'd recommend ProRes.

[@j.oakley9588]

Honestly I’ve never even heard of mkv file. Would a prores or mp4 or something work?

[@dillonjamescole]

You can look on the DCP-o-matic website for a list of supported codecs and containers. But ProRes and .mp4 both totally work. MKV is just a type of container for h.264.

[@1sonyzz]

@@dillonjamescole and x265 hevc in same container // .mkv - matroska video, .mka - matroska audio, .mks - matroska subtitle, .mk3d - matroska 3d video file // im program called vafe which can trimm video frame by frame so you can cut out like end credit part of video at exact time frame time where it starts or any other - unlike handbrake which cannot...in audio deparments for stereo audio - opus @ 96kbps blow any stereo audio out of the water (48kbps per channel) there is comparison on youtube of opus 48kbps and mp3 48kbps try watching it :)

[@aniketredekar7009]

Hey I have a different question can we convert a DCP file to MOV?

[@dillonjamescole]

I know that it is possible! You can use ffmpeg (I never have used it, but I know that's a way to do it). Probably the simplest way to do it though is to open the DCP in Resolve and export to whatever file type you want!

[@aniketredekar7009]

@@dillonjamescole so is it a software or what? Can I do it in premier pro or media encoder or DCP-O-matic

[@Substereomusic]

but then what, I can't seem to find it, is it the MXF file? what should I send the festival?

[@NiWeful]

The whole folder

[@jaredevans2518]

Hello, I converted a movie over to DCP. Well I went to upload it on a Christie projector. I was unable to find it. I have it stored on a external hard drive. It was a DVD I used the best frame rate it recommended (30). I really don't know what I could have done wrong. Any suggestions I can try?

[@dillonjamescole]

Do you mean that you can't see it in your ingest manager when you plug the drive into the server?

[@jaredevans2518]

@@dillonjamescole yeah I couldn't see it.

[@jaredevans2518]

@@dillonjamescole i tried to upload in in the GDC content manager and was unable to locate it

[@dillonjamescole]

@@jaredevans2518 your hard drive is likely in a format the server can't recognize.

[@jaredevans2518]

@@dillonjamescole what format do you suggest?

[@VersedFlame]

Scale to and Filters options don't exist for me :/

[@spacemanenterprises8559]

Love you

[@dillonjamescole]

Greetings from Fort Collins, fellow Coloradan!

[@ChuckFoxen]

Thank you!

[@otakudoomer646]

Why should I select an external at 2:00 or so?

[@otakudoomer646]

I saw why at the end lol. It takes up a lot of space. Why does it do that compared to how much is fit into the dvd or blu ray?

[@kurtulusbirsin5835]

hello thank you

[@Locklembert]

Buddy any way to make dcp hd/scm ??? I mean you converted in dcp 2k.

[@dillonjamescole]

Do you mean a 1080p file?

[@Locklembert]

@@dillonjamescole no friend. Actually i work in a cinema projection team. With your help now i can convert advertisement for 2k projector . We have 2 projectors in our cinema( one is 2k other one is mpeg). Mpeg projector support hd/scm.mpeg2 format. I just wana know how can i convert a video(which can be in mp4 mkv) in hd scm.mpeg2

[@Locklembert]

May be you can understand better this way- Our mpeg projector support file picture 2D mpeg2 audio 48/24 5.1

[@dillonjamescole]

@@Locklembert Hmm I understand what you are asking now but I unfortunately don't know the answer to this question.

[@Locklembert]

@@dillonjamescole ahh anyway thanks for reply

[@sabian82]

does it use cpu or gpu?

[@dillonjamescole]

CPU

[@sabian82]

@@dillonjamescole so its useless to buy a video card? my pc is very old but i m tired to wait 16 hours for a dcp.

[@dillonjamescole]

@@sabian82 yeah, it would be pointless.

[@sabian82]

@@dillonjamescole so probably it's better to take a ssd

[@dillonjamescole]

@@sabian82 probably!

[@sonnybaez5863]

4.8fps with Mac M1 (trying it out myself atm)

[@dillonjamescole]

which model?

[@sonnybaez5863]

@@dillonjamescole M2 Pro 16gb (ram) (macos ventura) got the laptop this year, it hasn't overheated yet and running multiple things in the background as well. Highly recommend! (But maybe with better ram, I usually dont do these type of tasks so this laptop is pretty basic).

[@luiscarrillo494]

Alguna aplicación para hacerla

[@Fun4Prank]

Fast Export kaise kaire

[@StrongMay-p7u]

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